Yes, another Zach Collins thread! This is important though (If you want something to be encouraged about.) Right now Collins is struggling mightily on offense. His PER is shit. His shooting percentage is in the toilet. HOWEVER, his defense has been exemplary, as in, best in the league level of good. RealGM has advanced stats for summer league. http://basketball.realgm.com/player/Zach-Collins/Summary/85659 Here are his averages so far: 3 blocks per game 2.5 steals per game .32 DWS 71.5 DRtg 9.04 BLK% He's doing this while playing 30 minutes per game and only averaging 3.5 fouls per game. Where does this rank in the summer league? (and not just Vegas but ALL summer league) #1 in blocks #1 in DRtg #8 in BLK% #9 in DWS #13 in steals He might be stinking it up offensively, but defensively he's killing it, and that should be VERY encouraging.
It's definitely hard to look past how bad he has been on offense...... but offense can be taught. Defense is so much about instincts. If I had to choose between the two, I would MUCH rather he be excelling on defense from the outset.
This and this alone is why he's better than Butters and should NEVER be compared to him. Saying Butters has good post D since we've seen it a few plays against Gasol and Cousins doesn't make him a post defensive stalwart.
Defense is definitely harder to learn. Look at guys like Ben Wallace and Bruce Bowen - classic late bloomers that eventually became DPOY winners. I'm not saying Collins is the next Big Ben, but I can't believe people are questioning the pick after two poor offensive showings in summer league. All we hear around here from the negative nancies is how bad our defense is. We finally draft a player that looks good on defense, and all we here from those exact same posters is about how bad his offense is. Honestly, this place is so ridiculous sometimes, I swear of we drafted the next Michael Jordan and he was averaging 40 ppg in summer league, all we'd hear is how much of a ball hog he is and people calling him the next Jerryd Bayless. BNM
If Zach can play good defense, protect the rim, rebound and hit free throws that is great. I suspect that part of the attraction was also his somewhat undercover passing ability. He seems like a good passer that would fit well into our offense. I like Vonleh, but Nurk, Swanigan and ZCo can all pass well and could really expand our offensive options.
Why would we do that? A defensive back up center is one of our biggest needs. If that's ALL Collins ever becomes, he addresses a need. Personally, I think he will become a lot more than that, but there are plenty of bigs taken in the lottery who never come close to even being a defensive back up center. BNM
I was well aware that he was being facetious, but a joke is only mildly funny if there is some truth behind it. BNM
Agreed, because there is a lot of truth behind it. I can laugh at myself. Might as well join in the fun... BNM
We'd be happy to unload Meyers for a 2nd round draft pick. What pick did we use to draft Meyers? What pick did we use to draft Collins?
